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State of healthcare 2008

On 11 December 2008, the Healthcare Commission published its fifth and final report to Parliament on the state of healthcare in England and Wales.

The report looks at the progress made in healthcare since 2004 and considers the challenges ahead. It explores how six key areas of care were provided to and experienced by patients in 2008, specifically care: for mothers; for children and young people; for people with mental health needs; for people with a learning disability; for people needing urgent and hospital care; and support offered to enhance people’s health and wellbeing in the community.

The Healthcare Commission notes that the NHS has dramatically improved access to services by driving down waiting times. Now it must focus on enhancing the quality of care by doing more to measure outcomes for patients, the experience of patients and the journey people make through the system of care.

The report emphasises that:

• The NHS has benefited from major increases in funding and now has more resources than at any time in its history;
• Demand for care has also risen dramatically;
• The health of the nation is improving;
• There have been sustained improvements in meeting the government's standards and targets, with dramatic improvements in waiting times;
• A small number of trusts are trapped at a level of performance that is unacceptably poor;
• Services are still not always as patient-centred as they should be and there are groups of patients whose needs are still not sufficiently well served;
• The safety of care is higher up the NHS agenda but trusts are still not doing enough to monitor and learn from incidents and ensure good practice is followed.

State of healthcare 2008